A notable mixed-use development will be moving in across from Aldo’s Pizza Pies in Memphis’ Cooper-Young neighborhood.
On Sept. 3, the Design Review Board, an affiliate board of the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC), approved design plans for The Cooper development.
The Cooper Residences, located at 2100 York Ave., is planned to have 248 apartments, 27 townhomes, 414 parking spaces, a 125-room hotel and commercial leasing space.
Construction workers clear the buildings on the future site of The Cooper, a mixed-use development planned in the Cooper-Young neighborhood, on Sept. 4.
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DMC economic development manager Sara Barrea said the residential portion of the development will be split, with a six-story building for the 248 apartments (the bottom two stories will be reserved for parking) and five areas along York Avenue and Tanglewood Street reserved for three-story townhomes. The development will also include two courtyards for guests and will have a private drive near the apartment building’s leasing office connecting to York Avenue.
Memphis-based Carlisle Development Company is the developer behind The Cooper Residences, according to the DMC staff report.
In August 2024, Carlisle Co. filed development and construction permits associated with the project with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development. The project site is the former Central Yards site.
In January 2021, the Central Yards project was awarded a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) via the Center City Revenue Finance Corp., an affiliate board of the DMC. That iteration of the project stalled after developer Clayton Kemker experienced financing issues, including legal troubles with one of his financiers, James Zhong. In November 2022, Zhong pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges in a cryptocurrency fraud case worth $3.36 billion.
In June 2024, Cooper Holding Properties LLC, an affiliate of Carlisle Co., acquired 17 parcels along Cooper Avenue, York Avenue and Tanglewood Street in association with The Cooper project. (A majority of the properties were previously part of the Central Yards development.)
Rendering of The Cooper Residences at 2100 York Ave. in Memphis.
The Cooper project is expected to include amenities for residents, including pool and dog park areas. The 414 parking spaces will be split with 297 covered parking spaces and 118 surface ones, according to the DMC staff report.
The 123-room hotel is expected to be a select service hotel. Carlisle previously likened it to The Memphian Hotel in Overton Square.
The hotel is still in its preliminary planning stage but is expected to be located along Central Avenue, said David Lewis, senior vice president of commercial construction for the Carlisle Development Co.
Rendering of The Cooper Residences at 2100 York Ave. in Memphis.
Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at neil.strebig@commercialappeal.com, 901-426-0679 or via X/Twitter: @neilStrebig
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: New apartments, townhomes coming to Midtown Memphis: What’s planned?
